Page 154 of A Court Bright and Broken

Reaching the end of the passageway leading to the kitchen, I halted Raewyn with my hand and whispered into her ear.

“Step back just a bit so you won’t be seen when I open it.”

Then I put my eye to the tiny hole in the canvas that covered the passage exit. Pharis had cleverly placed the peephole in the center of a bowl of grapes painted on the other side so it could not be detected.

Seeing no one in the kitchen, I eased open the painting frame and motioned for Raewyn to follow me into the dark room.

Only the moonlight streaming through the open window lit our path as we hurried past the empty counters and cold, quiet stoves and then the stacks of fine china filling the cabinets inside the butler’s pantry that led to the exterior door.

This was the entrance through which daily deliveries of food and fresh flowers were brought into the palace. Tonight, it was our doorway to freedom.

I quietly slid the heavy bolt from its cradle and pulled the door open. Once again, I poked out my head and looked back and forth to make sure no one was around before motioning for Raewyn to join me in dashing the short distance from the palace to the stable’s side door.

There would be no one up and about inside it. The horses residing in this section were reserved for my family’s private use, with the horses and carriages of our guests housed in a separate wing of the stables.

Following the path I’d traversed so many early mornings in preparation for my unauthorized excursions to the Rough Market, I led Raewyn past Mareth’s roan horse, Rinna, and Pharis’ night-black steed, Dargan, toward Malo’s stall.

“This is where thehorsessleep?” Raewyn whispered in an incredulous tone. “This is nicer than any house in my village.”

Looking around, I took in the solid stone walls and plentiful windows as well as the finely crafted wooden walls and gates that comprised the horse stalls. The stable smelled of leather and fresh hay, having been cleaned throughout the day.

Even Malo’s water and feed buckets were made of silver. She was right. Our horses lived better than most people in our lands.

Once again, I was reminded of just how differently Raewyn had made me think, how she’d made me notice the inequities between her people and mine.

I would never go back tounseeing them. I only wish she could be around when I eventually did succeed my father and make all the changes I planned to make.

“Here we are,” I said to her. “This is Malo. Malo, meet Raewyn.”

“Oh he’s beautiful,” she said, touching his cheek and gently stroking him from forelock to nose.

He shivered all over, nickering in greeting.

“He likes you,” I told her. “He has good taste.”

She smiled. “I hope he doesn’t mind that I’ve never been on horseback and have no idea how to ride.”

Saddling him, I reassured her. “You don’t have to know, though it would be a useful skill to acquire for the future. For now, you’ll ride in front of me.”

I had just lifted her onto the front of Malo’s saddle and was preparing to go open the stable’s large door, when it opened on its own, and torchlight flooded inside.

No less than ten of my father’s kings-guard charged into the stable. Four of them came to a stop directly in front of Malo’s stall, trapping us inside it while the rest blocked the stable exits.

Even Malo with his vast height and strength wouldn’t be able to push past them, and I wouldn’t urge him to try as the soldiers all brandished swords and spears.

Sensing the danger, he sidestepped nervously, his head and tail high, dancing around his stall at the sight and sound of the intruders barking orders at me to halt.

And then the King himself came striding through the stable’s front door.

Chapter 42

Leverage

Raewyn

Stellon stiffened at the sight of his father, placing a protective hand on my leg as I sat astride his enormous horse.

I appreciated the instinct, but what could he do? As strong as he was, he was one man against far too many.

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